Activist asks county to put end to colonia development

Commissioners hope to formulate policy by year-end

Lionel Lopez, director of the South Texas Colonia Initiative, sometimes
fills jars with water at his home to take to colonia residents and has
broken his truck trying to get there.

Lopez described for county commissioners on Wednesday the conditions
he has seen during floods - snakes, bugs and sewage floating in and out
of houses - as he encouraged commissioners to pass new rules aimed at
stopping colonia development.

"It would benefit the whole county, not just the colonias, so please
consider it carefully," Lopez said.

The Commissioners Court set a timeline during a workshop on the
topic to work out the regulation details in November and possibly have
them in place by the end of this year. Glen Sullivan, county public
works director, said he needs another month to finalize details of the
requirements.

Commissioner Betty Jean Longoria, whose precinct includes many of
the county's colonias, said she knows the colonia initiative and others
are waiting for the county to adopt the rules, but she wants to take it
slow.

"I want to make sure everything is right for us," Longoria said. "I
don't want to rush it for the sake of rushing it."

The regulations are based on state Sen. Juan "Chuy" Hinojosa's bill
recognizing colonias in Nueces County, which gave county commissioners
the authority to impose and enforce stricter rules on the developers of
unincorporated land, requiring them to provide paved streets, water and
sewer lines.

The law, passed in June 2005, also exempted Nueces County from a
statistical quirk that made the county ineligible for state funding
despite the plight of the people in the colonias.

Another law was also passed last session that made funding available
to all areas that met the new criteria - that median household incomes
not exceed 75 percent of the state average.

A colonia is a community along the Texas-Mexico border that may lack
some of the most basic living necessities, such as potable water and
sewer systems, electricity, paved roads, and safe and sanitary housing,
according to the Texas Secretary of State. Nueces County is estimated
to have more than 100 colonias.

Contact Denise Malan at 886-4334 or at HYPERLINK
mailto:maland@caller.com maland@caller.com